Internal combustion engines typically include a cylinder head that is separately attached to an engine block. The cylinder head can include various fluid cavities therein. These fluid cavities can contain and direct the flow of fluid through the cylinder head, they can contain a set amount of fluid therein, etc.
Cylinder heads are typically formed by sand casting or other semi-permanent mold processes. Specifically, a metal mold is prepared with sand cores included therein. Then, molten metal is introduced into the mold, and the metal is solidified. Next, the sand is removed, leaving cavities within the part. Once the part is finished, these cavities can contain the fluids necessary for operation of the cylinder head and the engine.
Typically, these conventional ways of forming the cylinder head can be labor intensive. Also, a significant amount of metal is used to form the cylinder head in these ways, making the cylinder head relatively expensive to manufacture. Furthermore, the weight of the cylinder head can be quite substantial because of these conventional forming methods, and this can negatively impact fuel efficiency of the vehicle.